


Take it On Faith

by Bellgram



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, F/M, Gen, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Revenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 17:52:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2741609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bellgram/pseuds/Bellgram
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During their fight, Tarrlok doesn't bloodbend Korra. He feels the temptation, but doesn't take it. Korra realizes his surrender too late and Tarrlok ends up hospitalized with half his face and arm burned off. Korra is left horribly guilty and desperately tries to make amends. </p>
<p>The press is hot on the topic that the Avatar attacked and nearly killed a city councilman, the protests are up in arms, and more non benders are joining the Equalizers by the day. Can Korra handle her guilty conscience while keeping the peace within Republic City?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Amon doesn't take those that hurt his brother too lightly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1: The Waters Give Way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never written a LoK fic before, but I'm a avid fan of the show.
> 
> The ending of last episode seemed fitting but tragic, yet the urge to diverge into an AU when I saw this prompt was too great.
> 
> The prompt is:
> 
> During their fight in When Extremes Meet, Tarrlok doesn't bloodbend Korra. He's been reflexively shying away from it for years and that doesn't change even in those few seconds he needs it most.
> 
> So Tarrlok is left on the floor of City Hall half-dead and badly burned while Korra is left to look at exactly what she's done. Whether she flees or sticks around is up to you.
> 
> Meanwhile, Tarrlok is effectively out of action during the revolution, Noatak is very aware of the injuries caused to his brother, and the city is full of people raging about abuse of power.
> 
> Bonus if Noatak manages to visit Tarrlok while he's incapacitated. Extra bonus if he confronts Korra and now it's personal. Yet another bonus if Korra is genuinely shocked by what happened herself.
> 
> Too tempting to avoid and so this fic was born.
> 
> Also, many thanks to my beta reader, willlowscribe, for saving my descriptive failure. ; )

 

 

A huge explosion shook the interior of City Hall as the entire wall from Tarrlok's office came crashing down from the upper floor. Korra was there, lit by the light at her back.

 

"Still think I'm half baked?!"

 

Tarrlok could feel himself tripping over his own feet. He hit something hard against the back of his heel and was knocked backwards. His carefully arranged ponytails were in disarray, obscuring his vision as he grasped the balcony, joints snapping at the hold.

 

Holding on for dear life. The only thing he seemed capable of anymore. Nothing ever seemed to change.

 

When he was a boy, failure just seemed to come naturally. Always second best to his brother, never good enough for Yakone, always needing Noatak to protect him. He hadn't even had the strength to run away with his older brother.

 

"Yakone was right," Noatak had said. "You are _weak_."

 

That had been the final straw. Coupled with his mother's depression and his father's unresponsive state, he'd left in search of something better.

 

And he'd gotten it. He held a seat on the Republic City Council, was the representative from the Northern Water Tribe, and had been one of the strongest water benders in Republic City before Korra came along. There was no question that he had power.

 

As a master politician, lining up the other Council members just as he wanted them to, tugging their strings in just the right ways, was child’s play. Tenzin had called him a manipulative tyrant.

 

He had no idea how right he was.

 

But then Avatar Korra had come, then Amon and the Equalists.

 

So he adapted, creating a task force to deal with Amon and entice Avatar Korra over to his side. Everything seemed to fall into place.

 

His fingers were slipping, his defense was crumbling.

 

_Smash_. And down came reality, along with him. The floor was hard, the truth was harder.

 

Just as he once stood, his posture straight and his eyes toward his glorious future, now he found himself crawling amongst the rubble of City Hall, scrambling for any kind scrap of pride he could dig up.

 

Korra came right after, her fist embedding itself deep within the stonework. Her earth bending shook the foundation around them. Her heavy breathing did nothing to douse the fury burning behind her eyes.

 

"What’re you gonna do now? You're all out of water, pal." She took a step toward him with every word.

 

Tarrlok scrambled backwards. He grit his teeth in frustration. Everything couldn't just fall into place, could it? _Never_ had anything just fallen neatly into place.

 

Everything he had worked for, ruined, by one little girl with the power to turn the world to ash.

 

In the back of his mind, his father whispered one solution. One easy way out of this whole mess.

 

The natural one. The _rational_ one.

 

He could feel her blood pumping, her pulse rushing as she prepared to strike. Fire lit in her palms with no intent of mercy. How easy it would be to clench a fist and end it with one move. To prove once and for all who was in control.

 

He could feel the line behind him. The one step separating him from his father.

 

_No_.

 

No, he thought. His brother's grip on his veins. The feeling of helplessness. The promise he made to never let anyone experience it. No! Never again. Never ever again.

 

He stood up. He let his arms drop to his sides. He could feel the heat from her fists crackling with a lightning like intensity.

 

As she ran at him, ponytail whipping behind her, he thought of how similar she looked to Noatak.

 

Then he closed his eyes and knew no more.

 

~ O ~

 

Korra could feel the lingering warmth of the flames now extinguished in her hands.

 

He just stood there.

 

The remains of City Hall were scattered around her.

 

He just stood there.

 

There was a still-scorched scar on the left side of Tarrlok's face and chest.

 

He just _stood_ there.

 

_Spirits_ , what had she done?


	2. Blindfolds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's done! Been a bit busy cause of the holidays, but it's finished.  
> I'd just like to thank all the commenters for their lovely reviews. I've gotten a lot of wonderful ideas for future chapters now. :D So thanks, you guys!  
> Also a thanks again to willowscribe for her wonderful editing.  
> In this chapter Tarrlok's a bit out of it and Korra's not much better. Amon finally shows up too, but he's not too happy either.

Like a ton of bricks—that's what Tarrlok would call this feeling. It was as if someone had taken a very large hammer and then proceeded to bash it into his head. God, he could still feel his brain rattling around in there. He was lucky there didn't seem to be any permanent damage.

 

His father had always said he had a thick skull.

 

He tried to raise a hand to his forehead to stop the throbbing, but a sharp pain from his left forearm made him wince. What in _Spirits'_ name…

 

Then a light clicked on.

 

The force of Korra's anger, the tightness of his refusal, and the crackling of tension. The memory of his water whip flowing through his hands as it rebounded against Korra's defense. The trembling of the earth against her fist. The impact of his body on the hard ground.

 

The undoing of everything he had worked for.

 

Then he remembered her rage. The warmth of the fire glowing in her palms. The unrestrained fury in her eyes. The acknowledgement of his failure and the acceptance of his fate. The blackness that followed. He hadn't expected to come out of that alive, let alone unscathed.

 

Enough. Such thoughts could be contemplated later. First, he had to figure exactly where he was. He could smell the scent of cooked meat with a hint of ash very close by.

 

Tarrlok attempted to open his eyes, only to find that only one would open. To his right, his vision was perfectly clear. To his left, pitch black.

 

Another click of realization.

 

His left arm was burned and useless. The weight of it triggered a swirling of panic at the pit of his stomach. The smell of burning flesh was starting to make more sense.

 

The second fact caused a much stronger reaction.

 

~ O ~

 

"What do you mean there's nothing you can do? There has to be something, anything! Just name the price and I'll pay it!"

 

"Korra, I'm afraid it's not a matter of expense. There's only so much the doctors can do. He's lucky he's doing as well as he is. His entire right side is untouched and his arm will heal with time, but…"

 

"But what, Tenzin?"

 

An ungodly sound pierced the air, shaking the windows and ringing their ears.

 

Korra's gaze snapped to the supposed-to-still-be-sleeping hospital patient's bed.

 

"Sir, calm yourself! It's all right, you're safe now." The nurse attempted to soothe the flailing politician but to no avail. "Councilman, _please_! Your injuries!"

 

The man's limbs shot out in different directions with no concern about whom they made contact with. His right eye was wild with panic, and his voice rose to deafening shrieks that caused many of the nurses and Tenzin to cover their ears. Korra, however, rushed forward and directed the nurse to stand aside. Carefully evading Tarrlok's attacks, she took a deep breath and leaned in close to his ear.

 

_"TARRLOK!"_

It seemed to do the trick. Tarrlok's arms dropped limply to his sides once more, and he blinked one eye as his voice trailed to a vague whisper. "My eye… _Spirits_ , my eye…"

 

Korra winced. She cursed the doctors for not administering heavier medication. She was not ready for this. A tsunami crashing into the city, a hurricane tearing through the streets, giant boulders falling from the sky, anything but this.

 

"It's so dark. I didn't know black could be so _dark_."

 

Still, she was silent, taking in his bruised and broken form. She watched as his hands shook and his chest stuttered with every breath. A broken smile followed by a series of coughing. His head turned toward Korra, eyes shining with something close to tears.

 

"So much irony, Korra." His chuckle came out more as a gasp for air. "Like one giant metaphor." Then his eyelids shut, and his form went still.

 

"Tarrlok, can you hear me? Tarrlok!" Korra shook him.

 

He _wasn't_ \- He _couldn't be_ -

 

A gentle hand grasped her arm. Tenzin gestured to the Councilman's chest. Still breathing.

 

"He's fine, Korra. He just needs time to rest."

 

Korra nodded, her eyes still pinned to Tarrlok's charred features.

 

"I don't…I just don't…" Her voice broke.

 

Tenzin embraced the still very young Avatar. Sometimes, for all her skill, Korra could have the most sensitive of souls. The memory of her breakdown after the Equalist ambush fluttered across his mind as she pressed her nose into the folds of his cloak.

 

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so _so_ sorry."

 

"I know, child." He held her tightly, as a father would his daughter. "I know."

 

~ O ~

 

Meanwhile, below the brightly lit streets of Republic City, tension gathered in darker places. Places of radical beliefs and shared defiance. Places no bender dared to tread.  
Rats scurried about through well-worn tunnels, following long forgotten passages. Though the dripping of water could be heard and the smell of grime lingered in the air like a smog, these were trivialities.

 

The freshly printed newspaper, exchanged between gloved hands, was of far greater importance.

 

"You're sure."

 

"Yes, sir. Just printed this morning."

 

A white mask hid the thinning of the first man's frown. "I see."

 

"One less thorn in our side, eh sir?"

 

The masked man's grip on the paper tightened. "Quite."

 

"That task force has given us nothing but grief ever since that councilman decided to rise up. But without him, there's no question that it'll fall apart." The other man tilted his head. "The irony of it though—the Avatar bringing him down. They're calling it an accident, but the press is up in arms. Nonbenders are joining by the day, Amon, sir."

 

Amon raised his hand to his chin in a contemplative gesture. "Yes, everything seems to work to our advantage."

 

"It's too bad though."

 

Finally, Amon turned his sharp blue eyes, lined with the red symbols of his mask, to the man kneeled before him.

 

"What is?"

 

"That he wasn't killed." The man chuckled darkly. "Would serve the bastard right after all he-"

 

"Get out."

 

The other man looked up into his leader's burning gaze. Cold pits of blue fire.

 

Amon turned his back to his follower. "I need some time to process this information."

 

The man looked confused. "But sir-"

 

"I said, _get out_."

 

The man stumbled out of the room, muttering apologies as he went.

 

Noatak looked back down at the paper in his hands. He read the caption beneath the picture of Korra formally apologizing to the press. Avatar Korra's announcement of profound apology and sincerity has people skewed. Accidental injury or calculated attack? More on page 7.

 

He could hear his teeth grinding as he scanned the quotes.

 

"Deeply tragic event"…."Ashamed for my recklessness"…."Do all I can to make up for this _horrible_ mistake"….

 

Then, the image of Tarrlok's condition.

 

The steps of Noatak's boots echoed through the tunnels as the door clicked shut behind him.

 

Paper was scattered across the floor, frayed and ripped apart as if shred in a violent fit of anger.

 

The only thing undamaged was a torn out picture of a sleeping, half scarred man, laid gently and carefully on the occupant's single pillow.


End file.
